122 Letters, Annonncements, S^c. 



The National Museum of Lisbon. — Our excellent corre- 

 spondent Prof. J. V. Barboza du Bocage, having accepted 

 office in tlie present Portnguese Government^ has, for the pre- 

 sent, given up the Directorship of the Zoological Section of 

 the National Museum of Lisbon (to which institution he has, 

 as we all know, for a long period devoted much time and 

 attention) to Dr. Fernando Mattroso. The Museum, which 

 I have lately had the pleasiu-e of visiting under Prof, Bocage's 

 guidance, occupies a series of five rooms in the Escuola Poly- 

 technica at Lisbon, The ornithological portion is divided 

 into three sections : (1) the general series, (2) the native 

 birds of Portugal, (3) the birds of the Portuguese colonies in 

 West Africa. The last is the most important, as containing 

 the specimens described in Prof. Bocage's lately finished 

 work on the Birds of Angola. It contains representatives of 

 about 600 species, partly mounted and partly in skin. 

 Amongst some of the most prominent of these may be men- 

 tioned examples of StactolcEina anchietce, Ehninia albicauda, 

 Neocichla gutturalis, Hyhjpsornis salvadorii, Sharpia angolensis, 

 Penthetria bocagii, Ardea calceolata, and Pelecanus shcn-pii, 

 many of which are the original types. In the Portuguese 

 local series is a fine example of Saxicola leucura from near 

 Coimbra, not hitherto generally known to occur so far west 

 in Europe. In the general collection is a fine stuffed speci- 

 men of Alca impennis, presented by King Victor Emmanuel 

 to his son-in-law, the present King of Portugal, in 1867, and 

 an egg of the same bird, lately discovered among the debris 

 of the old collections of the Museum. Senhor J. A. de 

 Sousa, the present Gustos of the Zoological Section of the 

 Lisbon Museum, is an accomplished ornithologist, and has a 

 new list of the birds of Portugal in preparation. — P. L. 



SCLATER. 



Bird-Notes from Mr. Layard (Brit. Gons. Noumea, New 

 Caledonia, Sept. 2nd, 1883) . — " Yon ask for bird-news. Alas, 

 I have none ! I can^t skin any more, as my left hand is stif- 

 fening. I have not seen a bird for months, except sparrows. 

 I heard from Norfolk Island last week. My correspondent 

 has found the Gygis Candida breeding there, laying on the 



